Kenshiro has decided that now is the time for him to leave this village. However, he'd rather have Bat and Lin stay here, and as they are sleeping, he says goodbye to them both. A few minutes later, Ken leaves the village.



He doesn't get very far when he sees Toki, and says that something is calling out to him. Toki tells him that it is his destiny which is calling him. His destiny as the successor to the Hokuto Shinken style. When Nanto is in disarray, Hokuto appears. Shin, Rei and Yuda were three of the six members of the Nanto Roku Seiken (South Star Six Holy Fists). In the past, these six people were meant to guard the gates of the Emperor's castle.



Hokuto Shinken served as the supreme martial art which guarded the Nanto Roku Seiken. However, in present times, the nuclear war happened and divided the Nanto Roku Seiken. Yuda betrayed the group, breaking away from them and joining Raoh's forces, along with some other Nanto masters. Since then, tragic fates have happened to three of the current Nanto Roku Seiken, as Shin, Rei and Yuda have all died. There are three members of the group left now. Toki believes that Kenshiro will have to confront them all.



Mamiya then appears, and Kenshiro tells her that he has to leave, as there are still battles awaiting him out in the wastelands. Mamiya thanks him for what he did, as because of his actions, the villagers now know how to stand up for themselves. She will continue to be the leader of this village, and will keep thinking of Rei, who devoted his life to her. Kenshiro says goodbye to her, and then turns around and starts to walk towards the sun.



Meanwhile, in another village, people are fleeing in panic only to be killed as an army moves in. The Captain gives the order for his troops to kill any adults they come across, but keep the children alive and capture them. The army storms through the village, killing any adults without mercy.



Elsewhere, workers are creating a pyramid -but the workers are actually all children, being whipped by guards for not putting enough effort in. Nearby, a man sits on a throne, watching his pyramid being built. This man reveals that the structure is the Holy Cross Mausoleum, and it shall soon be complete.



The name of the man on the throne is Souther...and he refers to himself as being the Holy Emperor. One of his Generals appears and tells him that they have captured more territory, but Souther wants more. He wants the entire world is his grasp. Putting on his mask, Souther gets up and says that Raoh, the supposed King of Fists (Ken-Oh), does not dare to challenge him. He is Souther! His troops are to go forward and bring all land under the control of the Holy Emperor!



Elsewhere, Kenshiro has arrived at a village and sees that parts of it must have been on fire recently. He walks on and and sees some soldiers ahead with the remaining villagers. They are trading things for water, but the villagers are coming out quite a bit worse with the deals. Ken gets in line and wants to trade some gasoline for water, but he is only offered only half a can for it, something he isn't impressed with.



Some of the soldiers ask if he has a problem and tell him to get lost, so Ken just takes his can of water and leaves. Next up in the line is an old man who hasn't had a drink for a whole day, but he hasn't got anything to trade either. He says that just a few days a go the water here was free, but the soldiers tell him that it isn't any more and he gets thrown out of the line. However, Ken passes him his water can and tells him to have as much as he wants.



This really doesn't go down well with the soldiers and one of them kicks the old man down. He wants him to bark and act like a dog if he wants a drink, and makes him lick up the spilt water. Ken strikes back by punching him in the face, so the Captain of the unit sends more men to kill him. But it doesn't take long for Ken to deal with them.



The soldiers can't believe what they are seeing: is a man daring to attack them, troops of the Holy Emperor? Kenshiro doesn't know who it is they serve, but he just saw them being horrible to the innocent, so he took action. The Captain sends the rest of his unit to attack Ken, but he uses the Honsha Bakuretsu Ken technique to defeat them all.



The Captain is the only bad guy left, and he realises that the man who just killed his unit used Hokuto Shinken techniques, so he must be Kenshiro. He says that he doesn't fear him, but Ken simply presses a pressure point on his head that makes him get down on all fours and freeze his body. Ken tells him that if he tries to force his body to move, he will explode. The Captain refuses to believe that and he starts to move, but a few seconds later there is no more Captain.



Back at Mamiya's village, Lin is sad. Bat gives her some food, but she doesn't feel like eating it. Bat knows she is thinking about Ken, and says it is useless to keep thinking of someone who has gone. But then he come back in his car and tells Lin to get in, if she wants to find him. The truth is, Bat wants to see Kenshiro again too, and moments later, the two drive away.



Back with Ken, the villages are all happy as they can have as much was they want to drink again, but some villagers warn Ken that the troops of the Holy Emperor will not take this lightly and more will be sent to the village. They try to give Kenshiro some food and tell him to leave whilst he can, but he refuses. Suddenly the villagers flee in panic, as more troops of Souther arrive. Kenshiro stays out in the open and lets the troops see him.



He gives them of them one chance to leave the village, but the Captain says that he is a lunatic and orders all of his men to attack. Ken takes out most of them, but he then leaps up to where the Captain is and hits a pressure point in his head. Ken tells him to leave the village with the rest of his men, or he will die.



The Captain picks his flame thrower back up and says he'll kill him, but then he has to drop his weapon as his head bulges up. Ken tells him that he is already dead, but just before he dies, the Captain tells Kenshiro that the Holy Emperor, Souther, will crush him. He then dies, and the remaining troops run away. Kenshiro says that Souther is his new enemy.



The next morning, Souther has been out somewhere and is heading back to his mausoleum, but three men have seen him and are on a rescue mission. Souther arrives back at his destination, and continues to watch the construction work from the top of a cliff. He finds out that it is around 80% complete, and some of his troops tell him it was wise to use obedient children instead of rebellious adults.



The three guys have managed to get up the cliff, and rush forward to attack. The troops with Souther try to defend their leader, but one of the guys attacking has a shotgun, and they are soon all defeated. The guy with the gun gets close to Souther and fires, but as the bullets are about to make contact, Souther moves at a frighteningly fast speed...



...that he gets right next to him. Souther swings his arms out, using an attack which cuts deeply into the man, breaking his weapon. The Holy Emperor then asks if the other two want to save the man's life. They hesitate, so Souther says they can't seem to act out of pity. In that case, he decides to cut off the source of pity, and crushes the guy's head.



The other two men then try to attack Souther, but he uses the same cross technique again and the men fall off the cliff, to their deaths. Souther says that because of their pity, they ended up wasting their lives. He then resumes viewing the mausoleum.



He takes off his mask and thinks about how he is the command star, or the star of leadership. He is an Emperor, and Emperors do not need love or pity. Who is Souther? And what does he intend to do to Kenshiro?


NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

Souther sends out more of his army to capture villages and children, as Kenshiro comes face to face with a master of a powerful style. Tune in next time for "The Star of Darkness Engulfs the Heavens! The End of the Struggle is Coming!!"

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